Air yarn texturizer

ABSTRACT

An air texturizer of the type in which the yarn is fed into a chamber with a blast of air, resulting in some twisting of the yarn, and the yarn untwists as it leaves the chamber and is changed in direction, for example at right angles, resulting in the formation of loops as it untwists. More particularly, the present invention is applied to an air texturizer of the type in which yarn is overfed at an angle into a vortex chamber, with a tangential blast of air causing the yarn to spin in the form of a crank or loop and flow out axially with the air and turn its direction. The texturizer is provided with a flange in which a beveled plate on a micrometric threaded shaft is mounted with a polished beveled edge over the axial outlet of the texturizer. This permits a very accurate adjustment of distance which controls the loops on the texturized yarn and permits operating overfeed of yarn. Bulkier yarn can be produced at a high rate of speed.

United States Patent Pike [54] AIR YARN TEXTURIZER [72] Inventor;Herbert J. Pike, 'Martinsville, NJ.

[73 Assignee: J. P. Stevens & CO., Inc., New York,

N.Y. t

221 Filed: Mareh3, 1971 21 Appl. No.: 120,566

[52] US. Cl. ..57/77.3, 57177.33, 57/157 F 511 1m. 01. ..,D02 1/16, DOlh7/92 58] Field of Search ....;...s7/s1.s, 77.3, 77.33, 157 F [56]References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,942,402 6/1960 Palm.......57/157 F x 3,543,358 12/1970 Breen et al. ..57/157 F x 2,982,0005/1961 Gonsalves ..s7/1s7 F x 3,043,088 7/1962 Breen ..s7/1s7 F 8/1964Scott ..57/157 F ux I Primary Examiner-Dona1d E. Watkins 51 Oct. 24,1972 Attorney-Robert Ames Norton, Michael T. Frimer and Saul Leitner I571 ABSTRACT An air texturizer of the type in which the yarn is fed intoa chamber with a blast of air, resulting in some twisting of the yarn,and the yarn untwists as it leaves the chamber and is changed indirection, for example at right angles, resulting in the formation ofloops as it untwists. More particularly, the present invention isapplied to an air texturizer of the type in which yarn is overfed at anangle into a vortex chamber, with a tangential blast of air causing theyarn to spin in the form of a crank or loop and flow out axially withthe air and turn its direction. The texturizer is provided with a flangein which a beveled plate on a micrometric threaded shaft is mounted witha polished beveled edge over the axial outlet of the texturizer. Thispermits a very accurate adjustment of distance which controls the loopson the texturized yarn and permits operating overfeed of yarn. Bulkieryam can be produced at a high rate of speed.

7 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure PATENTED um 24 I972 llll INVENTOR.

E k K P J T R E B R E H ATTORNEY AIR YARN TEXTURIZER BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION AND RELATED APPLICATION Yarn has been texturized on a largescale by introducing it more or less axially into a blast of air whichcauses the yarn to flutter and to twist. As the yarn untwists it canform loops, which results in a bulkier yarn of desirable texture.

More recently, an improved texturizer and process has been developed andis describedand claimed in my co-pending U.S. Pat. No. 3,653,196, Apr.4, 1972. In this patent above referred to instead of introducing yarninto a blast of air more or less axially and causing it to flutter, theyarn is introduced at an angle and the air blast is tangential andenters the texturizing chamber just beyond the yarn feed. This resultsin a rapid spinning of a loop of yarn which resembles a crank or -askipping rope and producesgreatly enhanced twisting. The twisted yarnthen passes out more or less axially and untwists, and its direction israther sharply changed, for example 90 ormore. The operation results informing the yarn into loops as it untwists, which texturizes the yarnand bulks it. A better quality and more bulky yarn is produced than inthe axial fluttering procedure, and operation can be carried. out athigh speed,,for example 500 meters per minute based on the yarn enteringthe texturizer. A very considerable amount of overfeed is provided byintroducing the yarn between rapidly rotating rolls so that it isintroduced into the texturizing chamber more rapidly than it is removed,and a shortening and bulking of the yarn takes place. This is usuallyreferred to as overfeed. It is with improved texturizers of both typesdescribed above, but more particularly with an im proved texturizer ofthe type described in my patent above referred to, or an attachmenttherefor, that the present invention deals and permits a degree ofoverfeed and a bulking of the yarn markedly in excess of even what couldbe achieved in the texturizers described in my earlier application.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION While the present invention can be applied tothe type of texturizer in which the yarn is fluttered in a blast of air,it is particularly important in a texturizer of the vortex or spinningloop or crank type described in my patent above referred to abovereferred to and which will be described in the remainder of thespecification, although the invention does include in a broader aspectan improved texturizer in which the yarn is fluttered by a blast of air.Essentially the present invention provides a beveled disc or platehaving highly polished conical beveled surfaces and micrometricallyadjustable to a precise distance from the axial outlet of the texturizerwhere the yarn changes direction and begins to form loops as ituntwists. When properly adjusted, much greater bulking of the yarn ispossible, and overfeeds up to 100 percent can be obtained, whereasbefore, overfeeds were considerably below 50 percent. One of the reasonswhy the present invention is particularly important with texturizers ofthe vortex "or spinning loop or crank type lies in the greatly increasedoverfeeds which have just been described. Such large overfeed increasesare not achieved with the fluttering yarn type of texturizer, althoughthe quality of the resulting texturized yarn is also improved in thisolder type of texturizer.

In one respect one might consider that one of the effects of the beveledplate is to slow up the movement of the yarn after it has left thetexturizer and changed its direction. Any slowing up of the yarn, evenif the speed at which yarn is fed into the texturizer is maintainedconstant, will result in increasing the overfeed. However, it is usuallypreferable to associate the beveled disc of the present invention with ahigher rate of infeed of yarn, and when both of these adjustments aremade, overfeeds up to percent can be obtained and an improved texturizedyarn results. However, the present invention is not strictly limited inits broader aspects to a texturizer in which the speed of feed of yarninto the texturizer is increased, as improvements are obtained eventhough the speed is the same as it was before. I

The angle to the horizontal of the highly polished beveled or conicalsurface of the plate or disc is not sharply critical. In general itshould be at not greatly below 10 and should not exceed about 45. Bestresults are obtained in the range between about 10 and about 15.

The spacing of the beveled surface from the yarn outlet shouldbe veryaccurately set, and so the disc or plate is preferably mounted on athreaded central shaft with a very fine pitch. This screws into a tappedhole in a flange at the end of the texturizer and permits preciseadjustment of distance, which will vary somewhat for best results withdifferent yarns. The distance can vary from practically touching theyarn to from one-eighth inch to three-sixteenths inch. Once adjusted foroptimum results with a particular yarn at a particular operating speed,the adjustment is held reliably without the need of any special locknuts or other devices as the blast of air against the conical surfacetends to tilt the plate very slightly on its threaded shaft, which hasthe effect of binding the threads and the resulting friction preventsloosening. This is not to say that the invention cannot be used withlock nuts or other devices preventing loosening of the threaded shaft,but as ordinarily they are not necessary, the fact that such devices canbe dispensed with is an added advantage of the present invention.

Reference has been made to the threaded beveled disc being mounted in aflange at the end of the texturizer. Strictly speaking, it is onlynecessary that there be a shoulder extending at one point sufficientlyto take the threaded shaft. However, for structural devices a texturizeror a cap therefor, which is a preferred modification, can be providedvery easily and cheaply with a flange concentric with the texturizer,and from an economic standpoint this is sometimes preferable.

It is an advantage of the present invention that the improvedtexturizing and quality of the yarn is obtained without reducing outputand in fact permitting in many cases an increase in output, particularlyin the case of the spinning loop type of texturizer described in mypatent above referred to. No compromise with the texturizers used beforeis therefore involved.

The present invention is particularly useful and achieves maximumimproved results with spinning loop tain other air texturizers in whichan air blast twists yarn which is then permitted to untwist and changeits direction.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The drawing is an elevation, partlybroken away, of a spinning loop or crank texturizer with a beveled plateof the present invention adjacent its axial outlet.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The drawing shows a spinningloop type of texturizer and is partly broken away to show the loop as itspins inside. The texturizer comprises a housing or chamber 1 into whichyarn is fed at an angle through a yarn feeding conduit 2 in thedirection shown by the arrow. The conduit has an enlarged head 6. Theyarn is introduced very rapidly by two fast-spinning feed rolls 3. Asthese are of more or less standard design they are shown onlydiagrammatically. An air blast is introduced substantially at rightangles into an annular chamber 8 in the texturizer, from which it flowsinto the interior through a tangential hole located just beyond the yarnin-feed conduit opening into the chamber, for example oneeighth inch.

The air introduced tangentially spins very rapidly as a vortex andcauses a loop of the yarn to rotate rapidly, similar to that of a crankor a spinning rope. This is the same motion as occurs in the texturizerof my patent above referred to. The rapidly spinning loop twists theyarn, and it is then moved along axially to an axial outlet 9 in a cap 7which is screwed on the end of the texturizing chamber proper.

The improvement of the present invention takes the form of a beveled orfrustoconical plate 11 with highly polished beveled surface 12 having anangle with respect to the horizontal, of from about to about This plate11 is mounted on a threaded shaft 13 with an extremely fine pitch ofthread and is screwed into a hole in a shoulder 14 extending out fromthe cap of the texturizer. The plate is screwed down to a point wherethe polished surface is very near or' almost touching the yarn 10, whichhas emerged from the axial outlet 9 and has changed its direction andhas started to untwist and form loops which result in the desiredtexturizing. A precise spacing of the polished concal surface 12 fromthe yarn is effected by turning the conical plate, which results in itsscrewing into or out of the shoulder 14. The surface 12 thus forms oneboundary of the narrow zone between it and the outlet 9. The extremelyfine pitch of threads, for example about 32 to the inch, makes a veryprecise adjustment simple. The adjustment is usually between practicallytouching the yarn and about one-eighth inch.

While the texturizing chamber, except for the conical plate, issubstantially identical with the texturizer of my patent above referredto, operating conditions may be somewhat changed. For example, thepresent invention permits a greatly increased overfeed, and, as has beenmentioned above, this is preferably effected, in part at least, byspeeding up the rolls 3 and increasing the speed with which the yarnenters the texturizer. 500 meters a minute is a very suitable rate ofinfeed for many yarns.

As in the texturizer of my patent above referred to, air pressurethrough the air inlet 4 should be adjusted for good results, but here,as there, the adjustment is not critical and considerably lower airpressures are often usable than were required with the older type inwhich an air blast fluttered the yarn. The present invention does notchange these advantageous factors at all.

As the yarn is often quite flexible it is sometimes a little difficultto thread it in through end 6 of the inlet conduit and to carry itthrough the texturizer. Therefore it is desirable to provide for selfthreading means and this is shown on the drawings with a tube 15controlled by a valve 16. When a new end of yarn isinserted the valve 16is briefly opened causing a puff of air to enter the chamber axiallythrough the conduit 15, this pulls the yarn into the texturizing chamberand starts it moving through the chamber and out through the outlet 9.As soon as the yarn has been threaded the valve 16 is closed asotherwise a blast of air coming in axially would interfere with thetangental air blast which causes a loop or loops of the yarn to spin andintroduces the false twist.

I claim:

1. In an apparatus comprising a texturizing chamber, means forintroducing yarn therein and means for introducing a blast of aircausing the yarn to twist, the apparatus also being provided with asubstantially axial yarn outlet, the improvement which comprises aconical plate with polished conical surface mounted for micrometricadjustment axially of the texturizer and located so that the conicalsurface is adjacent but not touching, the axial outlet of thetexturizing chamber, whereby improved loop formation in the .yarn andbulking is effected.

2. An apparatus according to claim 1 in which the means for introducingyarn into the texturizing chamber is at an angle and the means forintroducing air comprises means for introducing air tangentially toproduce a vortex beyond the point of yarn introduction, whereby thevortex causes the yarn to spin in loop or crank form.

3. An apparatus according to claim 1 in which the conical plate isprovided with a fine-pitch, threaded shaft mating with a tapped hole ina shoulder extending out from the texturizer end having the axialoutlet.

4. An apparatus according to claim 3 in which the angle of the conicalsurface is between about 10 and about 15 to the horizontal.

5. An apparatus according to claim 1 in which the angle of the conicalsurface is between about 10 and about 15 to the horizontal.

6. An apparatus according to claim 1 comprising an axial conduit intothe texturizing chamber just behind the yarn inlet and means forproducing a brief puff of air when a new end of yarn is first introducedwhereby the brief puff of axial air pulls the yarn into the texturizingchamber and directs it out through the axial yarn outlet.

7. A process of texturizing yarn which comprises introducing yarn into astream of air capable of twisting the yarn, permitting the yarn tountwist, changing its direction and causing it to flow in a narrow zoneone boundary of which is an inclined polished surface, introducing abrief puff of air axially behind the yarn and causing a fresh end ofyarn to be sucked into the chamber and led out through the chamber,whereby when a new end of yarn is introduced the brief puff of airexerts a self-threading action, the puff being sufficiently brief sothat when yarn is being introduced and moved through the chamber thepuff ceases and twist- 5 ing begins.

1. In an apparatus comprising a texturizing chamber, means forintroducing yarn therein and means for introducing a blast of aircausing the yarn to twist, the apparatus also being provided with asubstantially axial yarn outlet, the improvement which comprises aconical plate with polished conical surface mounted for micrometricadjustment axially of the texturizer and located so that the conicalsurface is adjacent but not touching, the axial outlet of thetexturizing chamber, whereby improved loop formation in the yarn andbulking is effected.
 2. An apparatus according to claim 1 in which themeans for introducing yarn into the texturizing chamber is at an angleand the means for introducing air comprises means for introducing airtangentially to produce a vortex beyond the point of yarn introduction,whereby the vortex causes the yarn to spin in loop or crank form.
 3. Anapparatus according to claim 1 in which the conical plate is providedwith a fine-pitch, threaded shaft mating with a tapped hole in ashoulder extending out from the texturizer end having the axial outlet.4. An apparatus according to claim 3 in which the angle of the conicalsurface is between about 10* and about 15* to the horizontal.
 5. Anapparatus according to claim 1 in which the angle of the conical surfaceis between about 10* and about 15* to the horizontal.
 6. An apparatusaccording to claim 1 comprising an axial conduit into the texturizingchamber just behind the yarn inlet and means for producing a brief puffof air when a new end of yarn is first introduced whereby the brief puffof axial air pulls the yarn into the texturizing chamber and directs itout through the axial yarn outlet.
 7. A process of texturizing yarnwhich comprises introducing yarn into a stream of air capable oftwisting the yarn, permitting the yarn to untwist, changing itsdirection and causing it to flow in a narrow zone one boundary of whichis an inclined polished surface, introducing a brief puff of air axiallybehind the yarn and causing a fresh end of yarn to be sucked into thechamber and led out through the chamber, whereby when a new end of yarnis introduced the brief puff of air exerts a self-threading action, thepuff being sufficiently brief so that when yarn is being introduced andmoved through the chamber the puff ceases and twisting begins.